Sunday Book Interviews

Hello Stacy. Tell us about your holiday release.

A Cinderella Christmas is the third book in my Noelle series....Christmas in Noelle, where love and laughter are always at the top of Santa’s List! Each book stands on it’s own as well as this one, along with Reindeer Games and Christmas on Parole, revolve around the hilariously eccentric town of Noelle, Alberta.
A Cinderella Christmas

Her mother’s ridiculous idea to gift her with 'a man' for Christmas is driving Angie Bellini insane! Every bachelor and his brother in Noelle is asking her to save them a dance at the upcoming wedding of Santa Claus Holloran’s daughter. What’s a girl to do to keep her sanity and thwart a scheming mother? Date the one man in town her mother despises, of course.

Wes O’Connor doesn’t like the plan Angie has coerced him into for two reasons: 1) He’s still paying for the last time those big brown eyes made him do something stupid and 2) He doesn’t want to 'pretend' to date the beautiful baker, he wants the fairytale to turn into a real happily-ever-after.

Their ending may not be so happy, though, when they discover they aren't the only players in their little game of make-believe.

I love titles. How did you come up with this one?

Titles are the most fun for me as well. During the first draft, I called this story Cookies and Milk because the heroine is a baker and the hero a hunky dairy farmer—yes, the pun was intentional LOL. As the characters started forming and the story took shape, though, it became sort of a reversed Cinderella story where everyone wasn’t vying for a dance with the prince but a dance with her, and so that’s when I came up with A Cinderella Christmas.

Did you have to do a lot of research for the book?

Not really, having a husband who used to farm helped a lot. As for Noelle, I created the town two years ago and keep a record of the town and townsfolk. It’s so much fun using the same quirky secondary characters and adding new ones.

Where did you get your idea for this particular book?

This sort of goes back to your titles question. I would say eighty percent of my stories come from the title, in that a phrase or title will catch my attention and then the ideas start flowing and the stories build around it. That’s what happened with this one. Cookies and Milk came first so I knew I wanted a baker for a heroine....and the rest built from their and how I could includes various townsfolk already mentioned and add a new one or two.

Which character did you like writing about the most, and why?

This is always such a hard question LOL. I fall in love with all of them more and more with each word or scene I write. Wes and Angie in A Cinderella Christmas were lots of fun because they each have their own agenda, and it was exciting to me as the story progressed to discover—and then surprise them with—the little twist at the end.

Where can we get in touch with you and purchase your book?

My books are available from The Wild Rose Press. You can read more about the Noelle series and my other books on my website at www.stacydawn.com and enjoy more Christmas fun this month on my blog at www.stacydawn.blogspot.com

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Hi Carla. Tell us about your holiday release.

Almost Home is a road trip love story. It’s about two people who unexpectedly end up traveling together from North Carolina to Oklahoma. Set at Christmastime, Almost Home follows this unlikely couple on their journey to find closure, healing, and new beginnings.

I love titles. How did you come up with this one?

Though a familiar theme, the title did not come easy. I focused on what these two were really trying to do - and deep down that was to get home to their families for Christmas. And while one of them was even going in the opposite direction, the events along the way caused them to grow and learn that they really could go home again.

Did you have to do a lot of research for the book?

Whew! Not this time.


Where did you get your idea for this particular book?

This book was born in a brainstorming session with my husband. I had just returned from a conference where we talked a lot about keeping characters together in most of your scenes to create natural conflict. So I said, “What if I force my hero and heroine to travel together and depend on each other to get there, even though they barely know each other and basically don’t even like each other…?”

Which character did you like writing about the most, and why?

I loved writing Detective Justin Hatcher. He’s an over-the-top alpha male with a considerable emotional wound he can’t get past. All the natural character traits that make him a great hero are buried under all the pain that’s left him angry, gruff, and stubborn. Writing him through all those layers was wrenching at times, but well worth it as he came out so much better on the other side.

Where can we get in touch with you and purchase your book?

Digital release of Almost Home is December 2nd, print release is December 19th.
Website - www.carlarossi.com
E-mail - carla@carlarossi.com
Available at The Wild Rose Press